Minnesota Aurora FC closed out its fourth consecutive unbeaten USL W League regular season with a 2-0 victory over Rochester FC on Saturday at TCO Stadium.
Elizabeth Rapp converted a penalty kick in the eighth minute and Natalie Tavana scored in the 51st minute for the Aurora (10-0-2), who earned their fourth consecutive Heartland Division regular-season title.
The Aurora will be the top seed in the four-team Central Conference playoffs, which begin Friday in Pittsburgh’s Highmark Stadium; the conference championship game will be two days later.
“Traveling is always challenging, but part of what we’ve gotten from our regular season is traveling and playing compact games, and it shouldn’t be a new experience for a player,” head coach Jen Larrick said. “The vast majority of our group is healthy and in a good spot, and we have a lot of really strong players to choose from.”
Kings Hammer FC Cincinnati (Valley Division) will be the No. 2 seed. Great Forest Division champion Pittsburgh Riveters SC, an expansion team, has also qualified for the playoffs.
The fourth Central Conference playoff team will be the Great Lakes Division champion — either AFC Ann Arbor or Detroit City FC. Detroit City FC beat Kalamazoo FC 3-1 on Saturday to take a two-point lead in the standings over AFC Ann Arbor, which finishes the regular season Sunday against Toledo Villa FC.
Minnesota Aurora have yet to lose a regular-season match in franchise history. The Aurora are 43-0-5 record in four seasons.
